Childrens Literature

Grandpa Toads Secrets Kasza, K. (1998). Grandpa toads secrets. London, England: Puffin. This book would be great for children four years old and up. It is about a young toad and his grandpa. Grandpa warns his grandson about the hungry enemies who live within the forest. It seems that nothing can scare Grandpa Toad and he shows Little Toad how to protect himself. However, when a big monster appears, even Grandpa Toad is scared and in the end Little Toad saves his grandfather from being a toad sandwich. Keiki Kasza is a very witty writer than tends to surprise the readers with a plot twist. I really enjoy reading books by this author. One Kiss, One Hug Chapman, J. (2012). One kiss, one hug. London, England: Red Fox. Ben and Ursula, sibling bears, snuggle up in their beds and soon Ursula falls asleep. However Ben cannot fall asleep so he asks his mother for one more kiss and one more hug. He still cannot sleep so he asks his father but still cant sleep! He yells to his mother for one more kiss and hug and the parents take it in turns to try to get their son to sleep. Nothing is working and the parents get very frustrated with Ben. Soon they hear Ursula crying: she had woken up but couldnt see her brother next to her because he was curled up so tight trying to sleep. The parents couldnt believe that Ben had woken up his sister. They both went upstairs to find both Ursula and Ben fast asleep in each others arms. Ben had snuggled up to his little sister and given her one kiss and one hug. This book is adorable and shows how siblings have to be there for each other always. This would be a good read for preschool to second grade. Splish, Splash, Splat Scotton, R. (2011). Splish, splash, splat! New York City, New York: HarperCollins. This book is good for children 4-8 years old. This book is from the series Splat the Cat. Splat does not want to have a play date with Spike. Spike will break his toys and eat all of his candy fish! In school that day, the class was going to go to the pool. Splat does not want to learn how to swim because he believes water is horrible, scary, and wet. He's sure that this is going to be the worst day ever. But when the rest of their classmates rush straight into the pool, Splat and Spike find that they may have more in common than they thought. Splat and Spike overcome their fear of the water together and this can be used in a classroom if there are kids butting heads. The teacher can show them that they have things in common! Hooray for Reading Day! Cuyler, M. (2008). Hooray for reading day! New York City, New York: Simon & Schuster.

The age range is 5-8 years and this book is from the series, Jessica Worries. When Jessica tries to read to her class, she keeps stumbling over the words and everyone in her class laughs at her. The upcoming Reading Theater day has got her very worried because she doesnt want to make a mistake in front of all the parents. With the help of her family and practice with her dog Wiggles, Jessica faces her fears and finds that reading is easy! I would want to use this book in my classroom if students were worried about their reading abilities. The book will give them comfort in knowing that reading is difficult but that it gets easier! The Great Easter Egg Scramble Knapman, T. (2012). The great Easter egg scramble. London, England: Macmillan Publishing. It is Easter Bunnys big day today! He has to deliverer all his friends the right egg, only he forgets! He quickly gets on his bike to deliver the eggs and had created a rhyme to remember who gets what egg. In the end all his friend animals received the wrong egg which hatched into the wrong baby! The chickens got a baby emu, the emus got a baby turtle, the duck got a croc, the croc got a duck, the turtles got a penguin, and the penguins got a baby chick! The animals are confused but everything is made right when Easter Bunny has the great idea to put all the babies on the merry-go-round and spin it until the babies land at the right parents. This is a cute book that could be read to children aged preschool to first grade. It is funny and Easter themed and could be read around Easter time! A Ball for Daisy Raschka, C. (2011). A ball for daisy. New York City, New York: Schwartz & Wade. The age range for this book is 3-7 years. Daisys favorite ball is destroyed by a bigger dog and the story takes the reader through the process of love and loss. Any child in the class who has ever had a beloved toy disappear or break will relate to Daisys sorrow. This book is nearly wordless, but the pictures demonstrate very well the joy and sadness having a special toy can bring someone. This story will appeal to young dog lovers and teachers and parents who have children dealing with a loss of something they love. The Lion and the Mouse Pinkney, J. (2009). The lion and the mouse. New York City, New York: Little Brown and Company. This book is for children 1 and up. This book is wordless and is an adaptation of one of Aesops most beloved fables. In this story, an unlikely pair learns that no act of kindness is ever wasted. A ferocious lion spares a cowering mouse that he already planned on eating and later on the mouse saves the lion from a poachers trap. The book has beautiful, vivid illustrations of the

African Serengeti and the expressive characters. This book would be good to use to teach this particular life lesson to a student or the whole class during read aloud. Stuck Jeffers, O. (2011). Stuck. New York City, New York: Philomel Books. This book is for children ages 3 to 7. This book is about a boy who gets a kite stuck up in a tree and he is determined to get it out. He first tries knocking it down with his shoe and when that gets stuck he tries knocking it down with his other shoe! He uses an orangutan, a boat, his front door but everything gets stuck. The book has great illustrations and is very funny. When the librarian at my practicum school read this to the students, they laughed during the whole thing and loved it! Bumble: The Little Bear with Big Ideas McGee, M. (2011). Bumble, the little bear with big ideas. London, England: Little Tiger Press. Bumble the bear hears that his grandma had bumped her head when trying to collect honey in the forest. He felt terrible for Grandma but decided to surprise her with something nice. He picked the flowers from out in the garden and put them all around the room. Then he painted the front door many different colors. Next he decided to do the dishes for Grandma, but accidently broke her favorite mug! He hid in the garden and Grandma came out to see what was going on. Bumble was scared to see how Grandma would react. She was happy to be surprised and she liked her new beautiful door. When Bumble told her he broke her favorite cup, Grandma was sad and said theres not another one like it, not anywhere else in the world. A tear slid down Bumbles nose and Grandma said, But that is true of you, dear Bumble, too! There is not another bear like you, not anywhere else in the world. You are the best little bear in the forest! This book would be good to read to preschool students to first or second grade. It shows the love that family members have for each other and even if someone makes a mistake, mistakes will be forgiven. Yoko Wells, R. (2009). Yoko. New York City, New York: Hyperion Books. The Yoko series books are intended for children 3 to 6 years of age. One day, Yokos mother packs her daughter her favorite foodsushi! Her classmates dont think it looks yummy and they laugh at her. Yokos teacher has a great ideashe hosts a cultural food day and all the children bring in something from their heritage to share with the class. No one touches Yokos sushi except one classmate. In the end, the classmate really loves the sushi and her and Yoko become good friends. Rosemary Wells writes a lot of her stories about the pleasures and pains of an ordinary school day. Everybody Loves Butterflies

Taylor, T. (2013). Everybody loves butterflies. United Kingdom: Parragon Books. The little caterpillar in the story doesnt want to turn into a butterfly. He likes things just the way they are. His friends tell him all the wonderful things about being a butterfly like how beautiful they are, how high they can fly, how they get to eat delicious nectar and much more. After confiding in the wise owl, he realizes that he will still be himhell just be him with wings! After he wakes one morning and hatches from his cocoon, he says, I love being a butterfly! I want to be a butterfly forever and ever! The book has beautiful illustrations and on the back page of the book is the life cycle of a butterfly. This book would be good to read to a second grade class who will be tested on the life cycle of animals on the SOLs (SOL Science standards 2.4: Life Processes--The student will investigate and understand that plants and animals undergo a series of orderly changes as they mature and grow. Key concepts include animal life cycles and plant life cycles). This book would also be a good book to read to a child undergoing a transformation so the teacher can encourage them that change is good. My Adventure Island Knapman, T. (2012). My adventure island. London, England: Scholastic Childrens Books. This beautifully illustrated book is about a little boys imaginary island. He can do whatever he wishes; he zooms around on bikes, eats marshmallow pudding and chocolate cake, splashes in puddles and climbs all the trees, and he doesnt have to share his toys. He becomes a pirate, a cowboy, a wizard, and a knight. He doesnt have to bathe or change his clothes and he has banned his sister and broccoli! Unfortunately on his island, it can get a little lonely and he is happy that his island is so close to land.Just upstairs from it actually. This book is a great depiction of a young boys imagination. It is crucial that children have this time as a kid to divulge into their imagination and create a world unlike any other. It would good to read to a preschool, kindergarten, first, and second grade classroom. Around the World We Go! Brown, M. W. (2012). Around the world we go! United Kingdom: Parragon Books. This book shows how even if children are from foreign lands, they still shake hands and respect each others different cultures. The first page shows the world with all the continents labeled. Another page says, Around the world we go. To learn what we dont know. The children from different cultures are depicted to be working together to travel the world. One page shows the many languages of the world and one page even shows how to say How do you do? in French, Spanish, Indian, Italian, and English. This book would be fun to do with a group of children because they can practice these different languages and realize that words may sound different but they mean the same thing! This book also points out how important it is to respect other children no matter where they came from, because in the end, we all want to be friends!

Humphreys Bedtime Hunter, S. (2001). Humphreys bedtime. New York City, New York: Henry Holt and Company. This book shows the difference in bedtimes for three elephant siblings and the sequence of events that usually happens before Humphrey goes to bed. Baby Jack goes to bed first because he is the youngest. He gets tucked in by Humphrey and Lottie, the older siblings. Next it was Humphreys bedtime but Lottie said, I am allowed to stay up very, very late. Thats because Im the biggest. Humphrey then took a bath but Lotties stuffed animals needed a bath so she was busy with that. Next Humphrey put on his pajamas, had milk and toast. Lottie didnt have time for dinner because her babies were having tea. Humphrey then had a horsey ride up the stairs to bed and his mother read him his favorite book and he fell asleep before the end. Lottie was still busy with her babies until dad came home and took her off to bed and she quickly fell asleep. If children have older siblings, then this scenario probably happens in their own homes all the time. It is good to show children that it is common for older children to stay up a little bit later but that they get to bed soon in no time. If children in the class are the oldest sibling, then they can also probably relate to the fact that big kids need sleep too! This book also takes the reader through the bedtime routine and this will help children see that everyone has to take a bath before bed. If You Hold a Seed MacKay, E. (2013). If you hold a seed. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Running Press Kids. The book begins with this, If you hold a seed, and make a wish, and plant it in the groundsomething magical can happen. This book takes the reader through the waiting process that comes along with a growing plant. The plant needs sun and rain and then you have to wait and wait. The plant transforms through summer, autumn, winter, then the spring. This cycle repeats as the boy who planted the seed also grows older. Eventually the tree grows so large it will hold you and the boy is sitting in the tree reading a book. And by the end if you keep waitingyour wish will come true. The boy who planted the seed is sitting with a little boy in the tree (possibly his son). This book is a great read aloud to show young children the power that comes along with planting a seed. It promotes the growth of trees, shows children that trees need water, sunlight, and time to grow. The book doesnt say the specific time it takes the tree to grow, but it shows the concept of time by the story going through the seasons over and over again. This helps young children, who are still struggling with the concept of time, understand how long it takes a tree to grow.